เข้าสู่ระบบ✦ ❦ ✦ Helen Pov ✦ ❦ ✦The quiet of the house hit me like a physical blow the second I walked through the front doors. Holland was gone—red-eye flight to some emergency board meeting overseas. For the first time in weeks, the air didn't feel quite as heavy.But inside my chest, everything was still violently unraveling.I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at nothing, the memory of Marcus's slip-up burning a hole through my brain. The Sterling deal. He'd known. He'd weaponized our entire fake relationship just to use my movements as a backdoor into Holland's network while his dad siphoned files.The betrayal stung. But the terror of what Holland would do if he found out was paralyzing.A soft click at my bedroom door made my breath hitch.I didn't have to turn around. Kelvin slipped inside, closing the door soundlessly behind him. Dark sweats, damp hair, his eyes locked entirely on me."What happened at the lounge?" he asked, his voice low and raspy as he walked over, stopping right in
✦ ❦ ✦ Helen Pov ✦ ❦ ✦Marcus as a corporate saboteur was objectively hilarious.The guy's entire personality was protein shakes, vintage sneakers, and complaining about midterms. He couldn't infiltrate a DM, let alone a multi-million-dollar server partition.But Holland's threat wasn't funny. And if there was even a slim chance Marcus was using me to access the house network, I needed to know before everything blew up.By campus lounge, the place was packed. Marcus was in a corner booth with his frat brothers, laughing too loud about something stupid. The second he saw me, his face did that rehearsed grin thing."Look who decided to grace me with her presence," he said, pulling me straight into his lap, his hands sliding onto my waist.I looped my arms around his neck, leaning in close like I actually gave a shit. "Stepdad's been bugging as hell lately. Corporate meltdown or whatever. You'd think the world was ending because some merger file went missing from his study."Marcus didn't
✦ ❦ ✦ Helen Pov ✦ ❦ ✦"Hey, can you stop flexing your chest all around the house? It's fucking disgusting. I'm sure you think you look cool, but sorry—you just look ridiculous."The words left my mouth before I could stop them. Kelvin stood in the doorway of the living room, fresh from the gym, still in his tank top with sweat glistening down his arms. He just looked at me, that soft expression on his face making it worse.He's nothing but a sweet soul. That's the problem.Yeah, he's got muscles that make you lose your mind a little. Yeah, his face is unfairly handsome in a way that pisses me off. But it's the niceness that gets me. That gentle, apologetic thing he does with everything. People like that are fake as hell—hiding behind all that "good guy" bullshit."I'm sorry, Helen. I never meant to bother you."His voice was so low, so fucking innocent I wanted to scream.I'd done everything to get him to snap at me. To yell. To show some edge. But Kelvin just apologizes and takes
✦ ❦ ✦ Helen Pov ✦ ❦ ✦Breakfast was a torture. I walked into the kitchen and Kelvin was already at the table in his sweats, eating cereal like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He didn't even glance up.I grabbed a plate, trying to act normal. Sat across from him like we hadn't almost gotten caught with his hand up my shirt yesterday."Hey," I said.Nothing. Just the scrape of his spoon against the bowl.Fuck this.I stretched my leg under the table and let my bare foot brush against his calf. A test.He froze. His eyes finally came up to mine, dark and completely unreadable.Then his spoon clattered into the bowl. He stared at me for a beat, and I watched something shift in his expression. Something darker.His hand found my ankle under the table. Not gentle. His fingers closed around it and dragged my foot higher, slow and deliberate, until my sole pressed against the hard line of his thigh. The heat of him bled through the thin fabric of his sweats, and I felt him twi
✦ ❦ ✦ Helen Pov ✦ ❦ ✦Mom and Holland were gone for the entire afternoon. Kind of date thing. Guess the love is still there between them but I don't care. The house was empty except for me and Kelvin, and that thought alone was enough to make my skin feel too tight.I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss at the birthday party. The way I was playing footie the next day at the dining table when having breakfast. I called Peace because I needed someone to talk me down, tell me this was insane, that I needed to stop before everything fell apart."Seriously, girl you kissed him at a party and now you're having a meltdown?" Peace's voice came through my phone like she was already annoyed with me. "Just fuck him and get it over with.""It's not that simple—""Why not? He's your stepbrother, not your actual brother. And girl, he's fine. You're both adults. Just—""His father will lose his mind. My mom—""Your mom barely knows what day it is. And honestly? Kelvin seems like he can handle him
SUNNY POVOut on the cathedral steps, the midday air was sharp and bright. The sudden blast of sunlight felt blinding after the dim, stained-glass gloom of the church. I stumbled on the top stair, the adrenaline that had kept my spine rigid for the last twenty minutes finally shattering. My knees turned to water.Olaf didn’t ask if I was alright. He didn't offer a barrage of soothing, meaningless platitudes. His grip on my elbow simply tightened, his large hand acting as the only structural support keeping me upright. He guided me down the stone steps with a swift, purposeful stride, his long legs forcing me to move faster than the heavy layers of my silk train wanted to allow.A sleek, black Maybach idled at the curb, its tinted windows offering a deep, impenetrable void. Olaf’s driver, a broad-shouldered man with a severe buzz cut, already had the rear door open."Get in," Olaf instructed, his voice low and utterly empty of the frantic energy that had consumed his nephew.I gathered
Selena didn't sleep. She lay in the dark listening to the mansion settle—pipes shifting, the distant hum of the AC, the weight of what happened on the terrace pressing down on her like something physical. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt it: the heat of his mouth on hers. The way he'd tilted
The Grand Kingsland Hotel ballroom glittered like a den of wolves wearing diamonds. Crystal chandeliers cast golden light over hundreds of the city’s elite — businessmen, politicians, socialites — all circling each other with fake smiles and real knives. Selena stayed close to Matthew’s side, pai
Selena had been in the mansion for two days when Victoria showed up. She was in the library, going through design books—mostly to keep her mind occupied—when Margaret came in with an apologetic expression. "Miss Victoria is here to see Mr. Kingland," Margaret said carefully. Selena looked up from
Selena's mother was in the private room at Royal Crest Hospital, looking stronger than she had in weeks. The upgrade had already happened. The surgery was already scheduled for tomorrow. Selena sat beside her mother's bed, smoothing down the expensive blanket, not quite ready to explain where the







